Gift Cover

Embroidered gift cover (fukusa) for honoring the New Year. The design motifs include a staff of bells (suzu), a fan with peony blossoms, a sprig of plum blossoms, and a stationary box. Bells are used for decoration on objects and animals for festive occasions. They also refer to the Okina, a ritual prayer that opens a Noh performance. The box likely refers to either the box that a Noh mask is stored in during the Okina or it may suggest the first writing of the year (kakizome) wherein someone writes out auspicious characters or poems which are then ritually burned.